Thorsten Brinkmann Herne, Germany, b. 1971

Thorsten Brinkmann (b. 1971, Germany) features traditional motifs of photo assemblage and photography while employing the languages of classical representation and modern abstraction. By staging photographs that deconstruct representations of images into fields of shape and color, Brinkmann nonetheless “represents” the narrative he is telling. Art history for Brinkmann is something to work with. He plays freely with codes of common memory-evoking tropes with sly feints and nods to what signifies “Portrait” or “Still Life.” One could say he gives a new life to found objects, and by using them in a completely new context, these objects take on different meanings. Through his artistic process, he raises questions about the story of representation itself. 

Brinkmann has exhibited in numerous solo and groups institutions around the world: Museum of Contemporary Art Hamburg (2024), Deichtorhalle Hamburg (2023), Museum of Contemporary Art Bremen (2022), Design Museum, Gent (2020); Kunstmuseum Bonn (2019), Gemeentemuseum, The Hague (2018); Centre Photographique, Rouen (2018); Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt (2016); Rice Art Gallery, Houston (2016); Museo National de San Carlos, Mexico City (2012); Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2012); Kunsthalle zu Kiel (2011); Kolbe Museum, Berlin (2010), to mention a few. His work is featured in numerous public art collections, such as the Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, Bundeskunsthalle Germany, Harald Falckenberg Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art Hamburg, Museum of Contemporary Art Kiel, Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, Museum of Modern Art Salzburg, Austria, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland and many others. Since 2013, Brinkmann’s permanent installation La Hütte Royal  has been part of the Troy Hill Art Houses in Pittsburghe, Pennsylvania. He currently lives and works in Germany.